ALTERNATE ORIGINS

The language of so many of our American folk heroes – real or imagined - is assumed to have been the same as that of the Most of the almost 200 genealogy websites I “visited” have links to “DNA Projects.” Eager applicants submit their cheek Appalachian peoples, as it is recorded and popularized in the stories of Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, Davy Crockett, Daniel cells to pay for play genetic laboratories in order to prove or disprove common ancestry. The results sometimes can be historical, Boone, and in the Bluegrass, Country and Western, and traditional music that most of the world identifies as “Original American.”

as in the direct link established between the Hemmings family of former slaves and our relative, Thomas Jefferson. In this case What are its characteristics and where did it come from?

Hemmings family lore was proven accurate by DNA analysis.

Similarly, the original “American” accent was always assumed to be a version of the Appalachian, which, spoken lightly, But it doesn’t always work that way.

is utilized by American politicians, coaches, and movie actors-regardless of their states of origin; it signifies authenticity, true My wife, Inez, who has inherited all of the Dixieland ancestry in this study, also tested her DNA. While the extent of grit, and All American values. It too deserves further study, as does its influence. Why and when did we agree on this “General American Indian in her ancestry has not been quantified, it is hard to imagine that with Indian Ned and Red Bolling and with American” as our representative accent?

Pocahontas herself in her direct line of ancestry, there would be no genetic traces of American Indian DNA.

It was a grandson of Kentucky, Mark Twain, who said, “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics,” and some of the numbers It is hard to imagine, but it isn’t there.

encountered in this book should raise some historical eyebrows. For starters, history tells us that the good died young in early And what about the Melungeons? Granny Collins fit the profile perfectly – right down to her double thumbs which are sup-America– in fact, most people died young; yet, there are more than a handful of ancestors listed here who are reported to have posed to be the official stamp of this supposedly tri-racial isolate (Granny didn’t know about any of this, she just used them to lived beyond 100. (the record is 100.6, which has to be respected for its particular attempt at accuracy).

better pick her banjo).

Are the historical assumptions wrong?

Again, when Inez’ DNA results came back, they reported not even a trace of Melungeon – she was determined to be “100%

There are related questions to be answered.

Northern European.”

What was the average age of death for men and for women among the ancestors presented here?

How can that be?

The infant mortality rate at this early time was also supposed to be chilling (though not as bad as in Mother Europe); yet few Was the testing center bogus? Was the test it used reliable? Were there certain genetic thresholds below which other admix-of the children listed in the records that I have studied (most of which were not reproduced in this book in the interests of saving tures could not be recognized? Should we have sprung for the “Deluxe DNA Package” instead of the “Basic Package” we paid both space and budget) seem to have perished prematurely – including Indian Ned’s 50 children.

for?

What were the survival percentages on the American frontier – away from the crowded coastal cities where epidemics Or was the family lore wrong along, and every genealogy record?

flourished?

And what about the “Indian look” in her family: the uncles with straight black hair, the cousins with “Indian” nose bridges, The pioneers who settled along the Holston did not find Paradise there: as soon as they could, they removed. Even some the aunts with “Indian” copper skin, “Indian” cheekbones, and other Native American characteristics? Whose children were they?

of those in the limited linear ancestry in this book were scalped by Indians; shot dead by cousins, and swept into war at King’s Were they all someone else’s? Someone not related or recorded at all on her family tree?

Mountain, Valley Forge, and at the crossing of the Delaware.

Or … had her mother, grandmother, and almost all the other elders in her extended family, in her neighborhood, in her county, But how bad could the attrition have been if they left so many descendants?

and at the state and local genealogical societies – had all of them been lying to her? Or lying to themselves all these years?

And what was the leading cause of death among those who escaped death by scalping, murder, and war? Did the early

Resolve this problem between my wife’s ancestry of record and the results of her DNA analysis, and you might be helping to American propensity toward violence start here? Did it start somewhere else? Is it just a myth that even then grabbed most of our identify the problems which will soon be facing millions who will be relying on this incredible science for everything from find-attention?

ing health insurance, to deciding whether or not to procreate, to choosing their medical treatment. There are too many questions The records of marriage are also important. Obvously, none of the ancestors listed here died childless, and many did have two here for future researchers to ignore.

or three spouses with whom they produced their batches of children. How and why were they so prolific on what is imagined to Editor’s Brief Editorial:

be the near-starvation diet of the early frontier?

The “mountain people” have taken a lot of shots and ribbing since American political and media culture have “rediscov-

Only one early ancestor is recorded as divorced (accusing her husband of abuse, and winning her freedom). And quite a few

ered” them. Right now, for example, while “Hee Haw” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” are programs of the past, “Honey Boo

of them were listed as “illegitimate” or early orphans, step children: the dependents of two or more remarriages, or the product of

Boo,” “Moonshiners,” and “Buckwild” are eating up the TV ratings. Beyond the stereotypes of toothless, obese, barely mak-

an “Indian” marriage, an adoption, child swaps, and kidnappings.

ing it, welfare grifting, inbred white ignoramuses, even these shows evidence that the descendants of the American progeni-

With all these family stressors, why didn’t families fall apart?

tors have somethings going for them: they are fun loving, family centered, free and independent people who love each other,

A lot of the children turned out well, and some of them didn’t (Jesse James’ ancestors are listed here as are Caril Ann

though they might not take kindly to strangers.

Fugate’s, the serial killer). These do wells and ne’er do wells too should be studied, with an important question intended: Were the offspring of all this familial mayhem any worse off, more dangerous, or less productive than the children we give birth to today?

If the answer is no, was life within an extended clan or family more secure – even for adopted “orphans” back then - than is life for today’s children of divorce, single parenthood, or domestic partnership?

Given the childhoods of today which have been producing battalions of bloodless suburban serial killers, mobs of urban ghetto gangsters, and an emerging amoral ruling class of corporate, Wall Street, and government thieves, the life of a hillbilly –

and his pioneer ancestors – looks more honest, vigorous, and joyful by comparison.

What can the pioneers teach us about parenting?

There is one final question which is as current as science today and should be of immediate and urgent interest, and not just to the genealogist: Whom and what do we trust more faithfully: Family histories or state of the art examinations of our DNA?

561

562